Construction laborer
Median wages: $29,150
Building sites contain many of the hazardous conditions present in many of the most dangerous jobs. Workers are outdoors in all sorts of weather conditions, often at great heights and exposed to heavy materials and machinery.
A laborer was killed at McCarren Airport in Las Vegas early in 2009 when an earth-moving shovel ran over him. Later in the year, a Michigan laborer died when a diesel tank exploded. In New Jersey a worker was killed after his clothing entangled in a rotating machine drilling pipe.
Safety has sometimes been an afterthought on some construction jobs, but government regulations and heightened awareness by companies and the workers themselves have helped to steadily pare down casualties.
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Last updated August 20 2010: 9:38 AM ET
